Apparatus and Methods for Cooling Rejected Heat from Server Racks

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods for cooling computer servers and/or electrical equipment in a rack device for data centers or telecommunication centers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to apparatus and methods forcooling electronic devices. More particularly, the present inventionrelates to apparatus and methods for cooling heated air emanating fromelectronic equipment to prevent overheating thereof.

It is generally well known that electronic devices such as computersgenerate heat when they are running, and that the device can be damagedshould the temperature of the device be allowed to rise above a certainthreshold. It is therefore important to ensure the device has a way ofdissipating the generated heat so as to prevent overheating thereof.

Many of today's industries and businesses require a host of computerservers and electrical equipment that are located in what is referred toas a server room or telecommunication equipment room. Individual serversor other electronic devices may be arranged in a server rack whichtypically comprises a frame having a plurality of shelves arranged invertically spaced relationship with each server or other electronicdevice positioned upon a respective shelf. The shelves are verticallyspaced from each other to allow air to circulate between each server ina rack.

Manufacturers of the servers or other electronic devices make thehousing with openings allowing air to travel through the device. In thisway, heated air generated from the electronic components located withinthe housing is allowed to escape through the openings in the housing.Some electronic device manufacturers incorporate fans near the housingopenings to actively draw the heated air out of the housing. Other heatmanagement strategies may be utilized on or adjacent the housing such asfins or the like which act as heat sinks to help dissipate heat from thedevice.

The problem of electronic device heat management becomes moretroublesome and acute when dealing with very large dedicated serverrooms or rooms with high density equipment which generate significantamounts of heat. In these settings, auxiliary heat management tacticsare required such as using evaporator/condenser type air conditioningunits to cool the air within the server room. Such air conditioningunits are referred to in the industry as “CRAC” units, which stands for“Computer Room Air Conditioning”. While CRAC units may do the job ofkeeping the servers at a safe operating temperature, they are not veryefficient in that they require a lot of electricity to keep the entirevolume of the server room air cool. Maintaining the air in a largeserver room cool can thus be a significant, ongoing cost which canincrease exponentially as more server racks are added to the room, rackdensities are increased and/or the room size is expanded. For industriessuch as telecommunication companies which require server rooms the sizeof football fields, the operational costs of running CRAC units becomesfinancially unworkable and alternative, cheaper cooling strategies arenecessary.

In response to the need for more efficient cooling strategies, coolingunits and assemblies have been proposed which are placed in closeproximity to the individual servers. In this strategy, the heated airbeing ejected from the device housing is cooled prior to it beingallowed to mix with the ambient air in the room. Examples of such unitsand assemblies may be seen in the following patents:

-   U.S. Pat. No. 7,380,657 issued to Chu et al on Nov. 9, 2010-   U.S. Pat. No. 7,905,105 issued to Fair et al on Mar. 15, 2011-   U.S. Pat. No. 7,385,810 issued to Chu et al on Jun. 10, 2008

While the prior art has provided various apparatus and approaches forcooling server racks and server rooms, a need remains for a serverrack/room cooling solution which is robust and reliably operates withlittle to no chance of harming the electronic components should acoolant leak from the cooling lines, has improved operating efficiencyover prior art systems, and is readily customizable to a variety ofloaded server rack configurations and heat loads. The present inventionprovides apparatus and methods which successfully addresses the aboveperformance objectives.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Server racks generally comprise a tall, rectangular metal frame havingvertically spaced shelves with the rack being open at the front andback. A series of racks are typically positioned in side-by-siderelation in spaced rows. The rack open front provides access to thefront of the servers while the open back provides access to the back ofthe servers. As explained above, server housings include openingsallowing air to pass therethrough to assist with extracting heat fromthe server.

The present invention provides in a first aspect thereof a cooling dooradapted to be removably mounted to the rear opening of a server rack.Although the preferred embodiment is a hinged door, it is understoodthat the word “door” as used herein is to be broadly interpreted to meanany type of connection so long as the door may be moved between asubstantially closed and open positions relative to the server rack.Even further, the door may instead be free standing or attached by anymeans to a separate frame or the like that may be positioned next to butis not necessarily connected to the server rack (e.g., a frame onlockable caster wheels that may be rolled adjacent the rack).

The cooling door includes a protective cooling door cover preferablyformed of sheet metal having air openings which may take the form ofopen area hexagonal holes and/or screen-type walls allowing unrestrictedair flow therethrough. The door cover is preferably connected to theserver rack via a hinged connection allowing the cooling door to pivotbetween open and closed positions. In the open position, the server rackrear opening is accessible to service or otherwise handle the servers onthe rack shelves as needed. In the closed position, the cooling doorcover extends across substantially the entire height and width of therack rear opening.

A rectangular heat exchanger mounting frame is provided having first andsecond side frame members with a top frame member and bottom framemember extending therebetween to define a rectangular opening. The heatexchanger mounting frame is mounted between the door cover and the rearopening of the server rack. In a preferred embodiment, the mountingframe connects to the door cover in the proximity of the door coverhinges such that the loaded frame weight is not carried by the doorcover but rather is supported at or adjacent to the location of the doorhinge axis. Separating the mounting frame weight load from the majorsurface area of the door cover minimizes physical load stress on thecooling door cover which has beneficial effects such as reducing doorcover wear and vibrations, for example. A separate hinge stiffening barmay be provided to extend along the length of the hinged edge of thedoor cover and to which the mounting frame may directly attach whichprovides further cooling door strength and stability.

At least one heat exchanger module is provided for removable attachmentto the heat exchanger mounting frame. In a preferred embodiment, eachheat exchanger module is first mounted to a respective tray which inturn is mounted to the heat exchanger mounting frame. The tray includesan array of fan openings in which a respective fan or, if no fan isrequired at a particular tray opening location, a cover may be removablymounted. The fans operate to help increase the CFM (cubic feet perminute) by drawing and direct air from the servers through the heatexchangers to cool it, maximizing the heat exchanger's capacity and thendirecting the cooled air through the openings in the door cover and intothe server room.

In the preferred embodiment, three tray/heat exchanger modular units ofsubstantially the same size and shape may be individually, removablymounted in vertically spaced relation to one another to the heatexchanger mounting frame. In a preferred embodiment, the removablemounting means comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced openingsformed through the side frame members of the mounting frame wherethrougha key-hook, pin, bolt, or similar mounting component on the tray mayremovably pass and be secured. It is preferred that mounting means suchas a key-hook or pin be used which does not require any tools.

The number and arrangement of individual servers in a server rack mayvary at any given time depending on the needs of the business. Whenracks are not fully loaded with servers there are empty shelves withinthe rack. Understanding that it is an inefficient use of energy to haveheat exchangers located and operating at empty shelves, the presentinvention permits a technician to very quickly and optimally with notools alternately mount and remove individual heat exchanger modules onthe cooling door mounting frame such that the heat exchangers arepositioned only at those locations where servers are located within therack. In this regard, it will be appreciated that the technician mayvisually identify where to place the heat exchanger module on themounting frame (i.e., directly in front of server-occupied rackshelves), and then align and pass the mounting components (e.g.,key-hooks or pins) on the heat exchanger unit with and through theopenings on the mounting frame that align with the desired identifiedlocation.

When the rack is full of servers, the maximum number of heat exchangerunits or modules are mounted to the cooling door counting frame. Shouldcertain racks lack a server, the heat exchanger adjacent those shelvesmay be removed from the mounting frame. In a preferred embodiment, theempty location on the mounting frame may be replaced with a closed tray(no fans and no openings thereon) or other closed panel (mounted in thesame removable manner as the tray/heat exchanger unit) which acts todirect any warm air passing from the empty rack shelves to the nextadjacent heat exchanger module. It will thus be appreciated that thepresent system allows the cooling door to be quickly and easilycustomized “on the fly” by the customer (with no special techniciantraining needed) to accommodate intermittent changes in server numbersand locations within a rack to thereby minimize energy usage andmaximize operating efficiencies. This modularity also makes maintenanceor replacement of heat exchanger modular units quick to minimizedowntime.

In yet a further embodiment of the invention, variations in rack heightsmay be accommodated by incorporating a movable shroud located at the topof the door cover which may be moved up or down on the door cover asneeded. For example, the shroud may be moved to cover the top segment ofthe door cover to extend it to match the rack height. This allows onedoor design to transcend multiple rack heights and rack manufactures.Example: a design can allow mounting to 42U through 44U heights andaccommodate variation between manufactures rack heights.

In a preferred embodiment, the heat exchangers are micro-channel heatexchangers and refrigerant (e.g., R134A) is the coolant which travelsthrough supply and return lines positioned above each row of serverracks. Individual rack refrigerant supply and return lines are directedalong the hinge side of the cooling doors and connect to a respectiveheat exchanger via quick connect swivel couplings. The refrigerant willflash to a gas at room temperature and there is thus no fear of damagingthe servers should a leak occur in the supply or return lines as wouldbe possible if the coolant used was water, for example, as is used inmany prior art cooling systems.

A further benefit of having removable mounting of the heat exchangermodules to a separate door mounting frame is that the door cover, whichincludes the door handle, may be attached to the rack in either a rightopening or left opening door orientation. The door cover and mountingframe (which have been previously connected together as explained above)may thus be first connected to the rack in either a left opening orright opening manner by simply rotating the door 180° as necessary toachieve the desired orientation. Once the door cover with mounting frameis attached to the rack, the desired number of tray/heat exchanger unitsare removably mounted to the mounting frame. The ability to removablymount the tray/heat exchanger units to the mounting frame is notdependent on which 180° orientation of the door cover and mounting frameis chosen. This is due to the configuration of the heatexchanger/mounting frame cooperative mounting components which, asstated above, are preferably in the form of a plurality oflongitudinally spaced openings formed in each side frame member of themounting frame and key-hooks extending from the tray/heat exchangerunit. The openings in the mounting frame are preferably the sameconfiguration regardless of which 180° orientation is chosen for thedoor cover and mounting frame. Each tray/heat exchanger unit may thus beremovably mounted to the mounting frame by passing the key-hooks throughrespective openings in the mounting frame side members. Once insertedand manually released, gravity secures and maintains the tray/heatexchanger unit on the mounting frame by virtue of the key-hook hangingwithin the respective opening.

Further operating efficiencies may be realized by electronicallycontrolling the fans to turn on, off and/or change speeds in response tothe sensed heat load at any given time or time intervals usingtemperature or other suitable sensors.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention,and the manner of attaining them, will become apparent and be betterunderstood by reference to the following description of the invention inconjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an environment having a row ofserver racks with cooling doors mounted thereto in accordance with anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a door cover of the cooling door;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a mounting frame and hinge stiffeningbar of the cooling door;

FIG. 3A is an enlarged detail view of the circled segment “A” of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3B is an enlarged detail view of the circled segment “B” of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a heat exchanger modular unit according toa preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a cooling door showing the heatexchanger side thereof which would face the rear of the rack to which ismounts;

FIG. 5A is an enlarged detail view of the circled segment “A” of FIG. 5;

FIG. 5B is an enlarged detail view of the circled segment “B” of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5C is an enlarged perspective view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the heat exchanger side of the coolingdoor; and

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the door cover side of the coolingdoor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawing figures, there is seen in FIG. 1 a serverrack and server room cooling system having a row 10 of server racks 12which may be located in a dedicated server room (not shown). Although asingle row of seven server racks 12 is shown in FIG. 1, it will bereadily appreciated that the invention may be used to cool heated airrejected from any number of server racks placed in any arrangement.

It is seen that each server rack 12 generally comprises a tall,rectangular metal frame having vertically spaced shelves “S” with therack being open at the front “F” and back or rear “R”. A series of racks12 are typically positioned in the side-by-side relation shown withmultiple rows in spaced, parallel relation to one another. Very largeserver rooms can have hundreds if not thousands of server racks. Therack open front “F” provides access to the front of the servers (theservers themselves are not shown) while the open rear “R” providesaccess to the back of the servers. As explained above, server housingsinclude openings allowing air to pass therethrough to assist withextracting heat from the server.

The present invention provides in a first aspect thereof a cooling doorindicated generally at 14 adapted to be removably mounted to the rearopening “R” of a server rack 12. The cooling door 14 includes aprotective cooling door cover 16 (FIG. 2) preferably formed of sheetmetal and having screened surfaces 16 a having a pattern of closelyspaced openings allowing substantially unrestricted air flowtherethrough. The door cover 16 is connected to the server rack 14 viaone or more hinges 18 (FIGS. 5A and 5C) which may be secured at openings16 b formed adjacent side edge 16 c of door cover 16 (FIG. 2). Oppositedoor cover side edge 16 d includes an opening 16 e for attachment of ahandle 20. The hinged connection allows the cooling door 14 to pivotbetween the open position (server rack 12 at the right end of row 10 inFIG. 1), and the closed position (all other server racks 12 in row 10).In the open position, the server rack rear opening “R” is accessible toservice or otherwise handle the servers on the rack shelves “S” asneeded. In the closed position, the cooling door cover 16 extends acrosssubstantially the entire height “H” and width “W” of the rack rearopening “R”.

As seen best in FIG. 3, a rectangular heat exchanger mounting frame 22is provided having first and second side frame members 24 and 26 with atop frame member 28 and bottom frame member 30 extending therebetween todefine a rectangular opening 32. The heat exchanger mounting frame 22 ismounted inside the door cover 16 as will be explained below. In apreferred embodiment, the mounting frame 22 connects to the door cover16 in the proximity of the door cover hinges 18 such that the loadedframe weight is not carried by the major surface area of the door cover16 but rather is supported at or adjacent the location of the door hingeaxis X-X. Separating the mounting frame 22 weight load from the majorsurface area of the door cover 16 minimizes physical load stress on thecooling door cover 16 which has beneficial effects such as reducing doorcover wear and vibrations, for example. A separate hinge stiffening bar34 may be provided to extend along the length of the hinged edge of thedoor cover 16 by aligning and passing screws through holes 16 b and 34b. The mounting frame 22 may directly attach to stiffening bar 34 viaangled brackets 36 a and 36 b (FIGS. 3 and 3B) which provides furthercooling door strength and stability.

As seen in FIG. 4, at least one heat exchanger modular unit 40 isprovided for removable attachment to the heat exchanger mounting frame22. In a preferred embodiment, each heat exchanger module 40 is firstmounted to a respective tray 42 which in turn is mounted to the heatexchanger mounting frame 22 via brackets 44.

A heat exchanger 50, preferably an aluminum micro-channel heat exchangercoil, having supply and return lines 52 and 54, respectively, is mountedto tray 42 via any suitable mounting components. For example, tray 42 isseen to include side walls 42 a and 42 b having notches 42 c whereinheat exchanger supply and return headers 52 a, 54 a may fit,respectively, with screws 42 d passing through aligned holes 43,51 inthe tray side walls and heat exchanger, respectively.

Tray 42 is seen to include an array of fan openings 46 in which arespective fan 48 or, if no fan is required at a particular tray openinglocation 46 due to the absence of a server at that location, a cover 49may be removably mounted. The fans 48 operate to help draw and directair from the servers in the rack 12 through the heat exchanger 50 tocool the air, and then direct the cooled air through the openings 16 ain the door cover 16 and into the server room.

Referring now also to FIGS. 5-7, in the preferred embodiment, at leastthree heat exchanger modular units 40 a, 40 b and 40 c of substantiallythe same size and shape may be individually, removably mounted invertically spaced relation to one another to the heat exchanger mountingframe 22. In a preferred embodiment, the removable mounting meanscomprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced openings 24 a, 26 aformed through respective side frame members 24 and 26 of the mountingframe 22 wherethrough the head of a key-hook 60 (FIG. 4, 5B) or othersuitable mounting component on the tray 42 may removably pass and besecured. It is preferred that mounting means such as a key-hook head beused which may removably engage the respective opening 24 a, 26 awithout requiring any tools.

The number and arrangement of individual servers in a server rack 12 mayvary at any given time depending on the needs of the business. Whenracks are not fully loaded with servers there are empty shelves “S”within the rack. Understanding that it is an inefficient use of energyto have heat exchangers located and operating at empty shelves, thepresent invention permits a technician to very quickly and optimallywith no tools mount or remove individual heat exchanger modular units 40a, 40 b and 40 c on the cooling door mounting frame 22 such that theheat exchanger modular units are positioned only (or mostly only) atthose locations where servers are located within the rack 12. In thisregard, it will be appreciated that the technician may visually identifywhere to place the heat exchanger modular unit 40 on the mounting frame22 (i.e., directly in front of server-occupied rack shelves), and thenalign and pass the mounting components (e.g., key-hooks 60) on the heatexchanger modular unit 40 with and through the selected openings 24 a,26 a on the mounting frame 22 that align with the desired identifiedlocation.

When the rack is full of servers, the maximum number of heat exchangermodular units 40 are mounted to the cooling door counting frame 22.Should certain rack shelves “S” lack a respective server, the heatexchanger modular unit 40 adjacent those shelves may be removed from themounting frame 22. In a preferred embodiment, the empty location on themounting frame may be replaced with a completely closed tray (no fansand no openings thereon which may be removably covered with cover 49,for example, as explained above (or other closed panel mounted to frame22 in the same or similar removable manner as the units 40) which actsto direct any warm air passing from the empty rack shelves to the nextadjacent heat exchanger modular unit 40. In this regard, it is notedthat any number, including zero, of fans may be utilized as desired,regardless of the presence of servers in the server racks. With no fanspresent and/or operating in the cooling door, the passage of warm airthrough the cooling door will emanate from the electronic equipment fansor other auxiliary fans placed in the proximity of the server racks. Itwill thus be appreciated that the present system allows the cooling door14 to be quickly and easily customized “on the fly” by the customer(with no special technician training needed) to accommodate intermittentchanges in server numbers and locations within a rack 12 to therebyminimize energy usage and maximize operating efficiencies.

In yet a further embodiment of the invention, variations in rack heightsmay be accommodated by incorporating a movable (e.g., freely slidable)shroud 70 located at the top of the door cover 16 which may be moved upor down on the door cover 16 as needed to accommodate different rackheights “H”. For example, today's server racks come in heights typicallyvarying from 42U to 45U. The cooling door height may be made to alignwith the tallest server rack of 45U. In this instance, shroud 70 wouldbe moved all the way up so as to be out of the way and not cover anysignificant part of the door cover 16. When using the same cooling doorfor a rack of a smaller height (e.g., 42U), the shroud 70 may be moveddownwardly to cover the top segment of the door cover 16 that extendsabove the shorter rack. In this way, air from the server room locatedabove the shorter rack is blocked and not directed into the coolingdoor, thereby maintaining top operating efficiencies.

As stated above, in a preferred embodiment, the heat exchangers aremicro-channel heat exchangers and refrigerant (e.g., R134A) is thecoolant which travels through supply and return lines 52, 54respectively, the main headers 52 b, 54 b for a server rack row 10(FIG. 1) of which may be positioned above each row 10 of server racks12. Individual rack refrigerant supply and return lines 52, 54 aredirected along the hinge side 16 c of the cooling doors (FIGS. 5-5C) andconnect to a respective heat exchanger modular unit 40 a, 40 b, 40 c viaquick connect swivel couplings 72. The refrigerant will flash to a gasat room temperature and there is thus no fear of damaging the serversshould a leak occur in the supply or return lines 52, 54 as would bepossible if the coolant used was water, for example, as is used in manyprior art cooling systems.

A further benefit of having removable mounting of the heat exchangermodule units 40 a, 40 b and 40 c to a separate door mounting frame 22 isthat the door cover 16, which includes the door handle 20, may beattached to the rack in either a right opening or left opening doororientation. The door cover 16 and mounting frame 22 (which have beenpreviously connected together as explained above) may thus be firstconnected to a respective rack 12 in either a left opening or rightopening manner by simply rotating the door 180° as necessary to achievethe desired orientation. Once the door cover 16 with mounting frame 22is attached to the rack 14, the desired number of heat exchanger modularunits 40 are removably mounted to the mounting frame 22 as explainedabove. The ability to removably mount the heat exchanger modular units40 a, 40 b, 40 c to the mounting frame 22 is not dependent on which 180°orientation of the door cover and mounting frame is chosen. This is dueto the configuration of the heat exchanger/mounting frame cooperativemounting components which, as stated above, are preferably in the formof a plurality of longitudinally spaced openings 24 a, 26 a formed ineach side frame member 24, 26 of the mounting frame 22 and key-hooks 60,for example, extending from the heat exchanger modular unit 40. Theopenings 24 a, 26 a in the mounting frame 22 are preferably the samesymmetrical configuration regardless of which 180° orientation is chosenfor the door cover and mounting frame. Each heat exchanger modular unit40 a, 40 b, 40 c may thus be removably mounted to the mounting frame 22by passing the key-hooks 60 through respective openings 24 a, 26 a inthe mounting frame side members 24, 26. Once inserted and manuallyreleased, gravity secures and maintains the heat exchanger modular units40 a, 40 b, 40 c on the mounting frame 22 by virtue of the key-hook 60or other like element frictionally engaging the respective opening.

Further operating efficiencies may be realized by electronicallycontrolling the fans to turn on, off and/or change speeds in response tothe sensed heat load at any given time or time intervals usingtemperature or other suitable sensors.

While this method and apparatus has been shown and described withreference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as described.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for cooling rejected heat from a rackcontaining electronic equipment, said method comprising the steps of: a)providing at least one heat exchanger module having a heat exchanger; b)providing a heat exchanger mounting frame having first and second sideframe members including a plurality of longitudinally spaced openingsformed therethrough; and c) providing one or more mounting componentsaffixed to said at least one heat exchanger module, each of said one ormore mounting components configured for removable attachment to apreselected and respective one of said mounting frame openings; and d)removably mounting said at least one heat exchanger module to said heatexchanger mounting frame by passing said one or more mounting componentsthrough selected ones of said plurality of longitudinally spacedopenings in said mounting frame.
 2. The method of claim 1 and furthercomprising the step of removably mounting two or more heat exchangermodules in vertically spaced relation on said heat exchanger mountingframe.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said mounting frame openingsare configured to allow said one or more mounting components to beremovably attached thereto regardless of whether said cooling door isrotated 180° with respect to the rack.
 4. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid openings are symmetrically shaped.
 5. The method of claim 4 whereinsaid one or more mounting components are in the form of key-hooksoperable to freely pass through a respective mounting frame opening andupon release be secured thereto via gravity.
 6. The method of claim 1wherein said at least one heat exchanger comprises a microchannel heatexchanger mounted to a tray having one or more tray openings formedtherethrough, said mounting components affixed to said tray with saidtray being removably mounted to said mounting frame openings via saidmounting components.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein said at least oneheat exchanger module further comprises at least one fan, and furthercomprising the step of removably mounting said at least one fan at thelocation of a preselected one of said one or more tray openings.
 8. Themethod of claim 7 and further comprising a door cover attached to saidmounting frame on the side of said tray opposite said heat exchanger. 9.The method of claim 8 wherein said door cover includes a pair of doorhinges and further comprising the step of attaching said mounting frameto said door at a location adjacent said pair of hinges.
 10. The methodof claim 9 and further comprising the step of mounting said door coverto said rack via said pair of hinges whereby said cooling door ismovable between open and closed positions with respect to said rack. 11.The method of claim 1 wherein said heat exchanger mounting frame isadapted to removably support one, two or three individual heat exchangermodules in vertically spaced relation thereon.
 12. The method of claim 6and further comprising the step of providing one or more removablecovers adapted to be removably positioned over a respective preselectedtray opening.
 13. The method of claim 6 wherein said heat exchangerincludes refrigerant headers extending therefrom, and wherein said trayincludes one or more notches configured for removable connection to saidrefrigerant headers.
 14. The method of claim 1 and further comprisingthe step of providing a shroud on said cooling door, said shroud beingselectively movable to a position blocking air from passing through saiddoor at the location of said shroud.